What do you need from a stat block ?

Which game has the best ?

(please consider - is all the info useful/necessary/how quick are they to write up)

What's the bare minimum monster info you need in your favourite game ?

do you stat NPCs like players or monsters ?

My suggested minimum: 2 pages, mostly description.

I can do a lot more with a few monsters well described than with a lot of monsters poorly described over the same page count.

If you remember the "Ecology of..." articles from Dragon magazine, that's a good starting point. On top of what those articles gave, I'd also include one or two adventure ideas involving the monster, plus suggestions on how to vary the monster's attributes a bit.

This scares me:

Orc, 1st-Level Warrior
Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Orc)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 13 (+3 studded leather armor), touch 10, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+4
Attack: Falchion +4 melee (2d4+4/18-20) or javelin +1 ranged (1d6+3)
Full Attack: Falchion +4 melee (2d4+4/18-20) or javelin +1 ranged (1d6+3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., light sensitivity
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +0, Will -2
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 7, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +1, Spot +1
Feats: Alertness
Environment: Temperate hills
Organization: Gang (2-4), squad (11-20 plus 2 3rd-level sergeants and 1 leader
of 3rd-6th level), or band (30-100 plus 150% noncombatants plus
1 3rd-level sergeant per 10 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and
3 7th-level captains)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Often chaotic evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +0

Geez.. Those complicated 3.x/d20 systems!

Here is a typical giant lizard with a FUZION stat block.

GIANT LIZARD (RECORD OF LODOSS WAR- FUZION SYSTEM)
Chars: INT 1, WILL 4, PRE 4, TECH 3, REF 6, DEX 5, CON 6, STR 5, BODY 10, MOVE 6
AV: 10 + 3D6 DV: 8 + 3D6
Weight: 150 kgs
Armor: none
Hit Points: 50
Attack: Bite - 4 DC


BUT HERE'S another one (STILL FUZION) from Lightspeed:Planets of the Interstellar Era
HAHA!!

WINDRIDERS
INT 0 REF 4 BOD 10 MOVE 5
WILL 2 DEX 5 STR 12 HITS 50
PRE 3 TECH 3 CON 6 STUN na
RES 6 LUCK 12 REC 12 SD na
Complications: Reduced Mobility on the Ground
(Infrequent, Move 1, Major, +10 OP), Vulnerability
(Frequent, +4DC from Piercing Damage, Major, +10
OP)
Skills: Evasion 1, Survival 3, Tentacle Grab 6 (10
OP).
Special Abilities: Entangling Tentacles (Should the
Windrider score a successful hand-to-hand attack
against a target, the target immediately takes 12DC
of Stunning. Roll 3d6+12, if the result is greater than
the target’s Strength + Athletics + 10, the target is
entangled, may not move, and is suffers –12 to all
actions. Each additional Phase thereafter, the target
will be drawn towards the Windrider’s enveloping
mouths at 5 meters per Phase, and will take an additional
5DC Lethal from the tentacle’s poison barbs.
An entangled target may attempt to either break free
by succeeding at a skill test using Strength + Athletics
+ 3d6 vs. a DV of 26, or attack the tentacles at –
3 AV. Each tentacle has 4 KD and takes 12 points
of Lethal to sever. Should the target be enveloped
by the Windrider’s mouth, the target takes 12 DC
Lethal per Phase until dead. The tentacles radiate
from the underside of the Windrider in a 60 degree
arc, attacking all targets within this area up to 120
meters below it. 21 OP), Flight (10m/Phase, ceiling
500m, 2 OP), Unstoppable (no effect from Stunning
Damage, 10 OP), Very Large (Starfighter Scale, +4
AV Strength, Body, and Movement-related tasks, -4
AV Evasion and Stealth-related tasks, 12 OP).

Just goes to show that FUZION can be as simple or as complicated as the designer allows.

To answer your questions...There is no game with "best" stat blocks. As long as all the information you need to run your battles and portray your character are there in a clear fashion, then that is the best way for you.

In a metasystem like FUZION, the system can be as complicated or simple as one allows. In the first example, monsters in that setting (Record of Lodoss War) didn't have any crazy special abilities so the stat block was simple. In the second, a special abilities plugin was utilized to give creatures more detailed attacks (Lightspeed).

The stats in FUZION can be made even simpler than what was shown in the first example if you were playing the "Instant FUZION" version of the rules. In that case, the 10 major stats seen above would be compressed into 4 while leaving everything else intact.

By the way, AV is "Attack Value" and DV is "Defense Value."

Major NPCs like archvillains are statted like PCs with full backstories and everything. Minor NPCs can be statted in the convenient "Instant FUZION" shorthand explained earlier.

Quote from: SeanThis scares me:

This I like:

Orc
HD 1d8+1 (5 hp), AC 13, falchion +4 (2d4+4) or javelin +1 (1d6+3)

(from: Microlite20)

Yes, I lurve Microlite20

Most of the time I prefer to stat out all notable NPCs just as I would do with the PCs themselves. Praedor uses simplified stat blocks for less significant characters and critters, though, with some of the regular attributes combined together and specialized skills removed entirely. An example from the book, roughly translated:

SNOW APE

These white-furred and long-limbed giant apes live in the vicinity of the snow line at the Western Mountains. They scavenge what they can from the bleak slopes and make their lairs in the crevices of the glacier. Originally created by the Wizard-King Arel Hiramon to hunt down runaway slaves, the beasts now hate all human life; they remain a constant threat in the region, but never more so than during the winters when they may descend to the lush valleys where the local tribes make their villages. The victims of these raids are commonly slain without delay or hesitation, but sometimes they are taken alive up to the ice caverns, where their flesh is eaten and their blood used for scrawling spirals and other primitive patterns on the frozen walls. The purpose of these drawings is unknown, and it's a rare explorer who has even seen them and lived to tell the tale.

Body: 2d+10 [17]
Agility: 3d [10]
Awareness: 3d+1 [13]
Resilience: 2d+1 [12]

Attack: 2d+4 [11]
Reach: II/[10]
Damage: [8]

Defence: 1
Deep Wound: [11]
Blood: [17/17/17/17]

Those bracketed numbers are average values which a GM in a hurry can use instead of actually rolling for the stats. And since the game only uses good old six-siders, each "d" stands for "d6".

Human NPCs usually also have the "Skill" attribute which represents all their professional talents. Sorcerers and demons have the "Power" attribute which measures their magical abilities. Nameless creatures and other monsters may have a number of random unusual features like "Chameleon", "Hypnotic" or "Tentacles". (Creatures such as the snow apes are more like genetically engineered animals rather than genuine "monsters" which are typically created by merging realities.)

Quote from: SeanWhat do you need from a stat block ?

Which game has the best ?

(please consider - is all the info useful/necessary/how quick are they to write up)

What's the bare minimum monster info you need in your favourite game ?

do you stat NPCs like players or monsters ?

I don't care for the monster stat blocks I've seen so far.  Although such things can give you an idea of how the setting works, I don't care for the metagame aspect of preset monsters, or for taking time to switch around costumes.  I prefer to stat NPCs as PCs.  As for monsters, I prefer to have a base idea of what they're like and a guide to scale them.

Blue Monster
Stat 1 = High
Stat 2 = Medium
Stat 3 = Medium-Low
Stat 4 = Low
Stat 5 = High-low
Attacks = Favors high damage/low hit attacks
Description = It is blue and has a blue house, too.

Quote from: KingSpoomDescription = It is blue and has a blue house, too.